“Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8:10-1
Last year, I reached out to friends asking for prayer. My text went something like this, “Good morning ladies! Quick prayer request. My previous husband is having a medical procedure this morning. The last one didn’t go so well. Please pray for no complications.” Simple enough.
Do you ever proofread AFTER the fact? As you can imagine – there was a slow response from the group and friends wondering why I had left out a substantial part of my story. Truth be told, I’ve only been married one time and meant to request prayer for my “precious husband”…since the “C” key is directly next to the “V” key…mistakenly, I had requested prayer for a non-existent “previous” one. We had a good laugh…and a great takeaway…the order is everything.
Recently this principle was highlighted by a local pastor and friend of ours who was teaching on the woman caught in an adulterous act.
“Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared.
“Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8:10-1
The order here has eternal significance and is truly everything!
What could have been an opportunity to publicly shame this woman…Jesus used as an opportunity to display perfect wisdom, grace, compassion and love to one who was vulnerable.
Jesus did not ask her to become presentable first…and He doesn’t ask it of us. We are completely accepted and dearly loved exactly where we are…and then encouraged to not stay in that place. The order is everything!
This is something worth smiling about on any Sweet Monday!